Our paperwork was approved quickly. It took 36 days ya'll. We were expecting at least 60 and told it could take 90. God heard our prayers and answered them specifically and loudly. He's been doing that our entire adoption process. We've had many "no" prayers in our spiritual walk, but throughout this adoption God continues to tell us YES! Thank you Lord for seeing to the smallest of details...even answering my prayer for a "nice officer" by allowing me a chance to talk to ours. When I called to check on our status the person who picked up the phone just happened to be our officer...and was completely kind and gracious and gave us a hearty "congratulations!" This same officer will be handling our other paperwork for Zachary, so it was a blessing to know we got a good one.
One step closer.
We are rushing this beautiful "permission letter from the USA to adopt" out for certification and authentication. The rest of our dossier has been certified and is at the Chinese Consulate right now getting authenticated. Once everything gets back to us certified and authenticated (hopefully 2 weeks or so) we will officially send everything to China. That is the big milestone!
So here's what the process looks like from here:
1. Authenticate dossier
2. Send dossier to China
3. Receive log in date from China (paperwork processed)
4. LOA (letter of acceptance that dossier has been translated and we have been given Chinese government approval to adopt Zachary)
5. I800, GUZ, Article 5 (not even going to try to explain, basically a bunch of steps to get Zachary an American visa and get a consulate appointment in China to come adopt him)
6. Travel Approval!
Because this step went quickly it is looking like we have a good chance of getting to Zachary before Christmas!!! That has been my prayer all along, although Asher prays that we get him before Halloween because he doesn't want him to miss out on all the candy (lol). Once our dossier gets to China, it is typically 4-6 months later that travel approval is given. Most of this depends on the LOA wait, which averages anywhere from 20 days to 120 days. There is no rhyme or reason, some just take longer than others. So, we truly have no idea when we will travel, but hopefully sooner rather than later.
We are so excited to have this step behind us and will truly celebrate once we get our dossier to China. Our documents need to be approved for authentication and then safely travel back here and then to China without any issues. Then it is all out of our hands and we pray for the Chinese government to officially approve our request to adopt Zachary. Keep praying for us, we feel your love and support each step of the way!
So here's what the process looks like from here:
1. Authenticate dossier
2. Send dossier to China
3. Receive log in date from China (paperwork processed)
4. LOA (letter of acceptance that dossier has been translated and we have been given Chinese government approval to adopt Zachary)
5. I800, GUZ, Article 5 (not even going to try to explain, basically a bunch of steps to get Zachary an American visa and get a consulate appointment in China to come adopt him)
6. Travel Approval!
Because this step went quickly it is looking like we have a good chance of getting to Zachary before Christmas!!! That has been my prayer all along, although Asher prays that we get him before Halloween because he doesn't want him to miss out on all the candy (lol). Once our dossier gets to China, it is typically 4-6 months later that travel approval is given. Most of this depends on the LOA wait, which averages anywhere from 20 days to 120 days. There is no rhyme or reason, some just take longer than others. So, we truly have no idea when we will travel, but hopefully sooner rather than later.
We are so excited to have this step behind us and will truly celebrate once we get our dossier to China. Our documents need to be approved for authentication and then safely travel back here and then to China without any issues. Then it is all out of our hands and we pray for the Chinese government to officially approve our request to adopt Zachary. Keep praying for us, we feel your love and support each step of the way!
I don't know why I'm surprised every time our prayers are answered so gloriously. PRAISE GOD!
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